Gun, knife found at Moore Traditional School

This is a copy of the letter that was sent home to parents, informing them about the weapons that were found at school.

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - It was upsetting news to some students and parents at Moore Traditional Middle School after finding out that weapons were found in two separate incidents at the school on Monday.

"This is like the first time at Moore," said student Trissa Purvis. "I've been here since 6th grade and that has never happened."

"I didn't know what was going on for real," said Pruvis's friend Alexis Nicholas.

What was going on came as a disappointment to those students, staff and some parents at Moore Traditional.

Purvis said of the eventful day, "Somebody had a gun."

A tip came into the school, a search followed and a gun was found inside a locker.

JCPS spokesperson Christi Lanier-Robinson said she's not sure whether the gun was loaded.

Nicholas remembered, "I was in third period and we got a message on the intercom saying, ‘Freeze,' so I thought they were just searching the hallways like usual."

"Freeze," Nicholas said, is code for students to stay where they are.

She said students are used to searches with dogs, possibly for drugs. This freeze notification about a gun took much longer.

Lanier-Robinson said that was because a second tip came in leading to a second search and a second weapon.

"The kids came in and said the school had been on lockdown and that they had found a gun and a knife and drugs in the school," recalled parent Dawn Ludwick.

Ludwick is upset about the way she was notified, "I didn't get an E-mail and I didn't get a text message."

Ludwick and other parents found out in a letter that was sent home with students after school.

Lanier-Robinson said each school has its own notification system. While some JCPS schools have immediate notifications, others like Moore choose to send a letter home to parents. School leaders apparently believed that was enough because the students in question were apprehended and the situation was under control.

Ludwick contends it was not enough, saying, "The moment that the drugs and the weapons came into the school, that's an unsafe environment for absolutely anybody that walks into that school."

JCPS maintains the school was on heightened alert, not a lock down and that instant alerts don't always work because some parents don't always have access to email or texts.

The students involved with bringing the weapons to school are being disciplined according to district policy. Officials could not confirm whether any drugs were found on school property.

Here in the city that's home to "University-6," as the University of Louisville is identified in a federal criminal complaint filed by the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the feeling of devastation is exceeded only by anger and disbelief.

Here in the city that's home to "University-6," as the University of Louisville is identified in a federal criminal complaint filed by the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the feeling of devastation is exceeded only by anger and disbelief.